Anis Bardich (Image: South Wales Police)
Last Updated: 1 minute ago
A man who came to the UK after being persecuted for his sexuality in Morocco has been jailed for three years after police caught him dealing heroin and crack cocaine on the streets of Cardiff.
Caught in the act
Anis Bardich, 28, was spotted by officers on February 16 carrying out a drug deal on Richmond Road in Cathays. He was seen making several calls on a burner-style phone before cycling away from the area.
Bardich rode towards the Woodville pub, where further deals took place. Prosecutor Emily Jermin told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court that one of his customers was observed taking out a crack pipe and smoking the drugs he had just bought.
The defendant then returned to Richmond Road and completed another transaction, with the buyer using a number of cash machines to withdraw money to pay for the drugs. That customer was later stopped by police and found carrying two wraps of crack cocaine.
A final deal was carried out outside Lidl on Maindy Road before officers moved in to detain Bardich, who tried to run. He was found with a Nokia burner phone and £160 in cash.
The evidence
When officers went back to the scene, they recovered a number of wraps from the ground. A search of Bardich’s home also uncovered drugs stored in a plastic pot.
Ms Jermin said a total of 15 wraps of heroin and 94 wraps of crack cocaine were seized, with a combined street value of £1,090.
Analysis of the burner phone revealed it had been used to send 1,366 bulk text messages to customers advertising drugs for sale.
During his police interview at Cardiff Bay station, Bardich told officers they had “found all the drugs” and claimed just £20 of the cash seized was linked to dealing.
Background and mitigation
The court heard Bardich, of West Luton Place, Adamsdown, had moved to the UK from Morocco in 2014 after being persecuted in his home country because of his sexuality.
Defence barrister Jonathan Webb said his client had been unable to work due to his immigration status and turned to drug dealing to make ends meet. He said Bardich was also funding his own drug habit and was not living a “lavish lifestyle”.
The defendant has 10 previous convictions, mostly for theft and fraud offences.
Sentencing
Bardich pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs, two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, and supplying a class A drug.
Sentencing him on Wednesday, Recorder Dyfed Thomas said: “Drugs destroy people’s lives, cause misery and upset to people’s families and cause harm to communities as a whole. People who peddle these drugs and supply them are taking their part in this miserable and harmful trade.”
Bardich was sentenced to a total of three years in prison.
